Trigger safety for shotguns and the like



Jan. 11, 1949. MAYNOR 2,458,616

TRIGGER SAFETY FOR SHOTGUNS AND THE LIKE Filed June 13, 1945 4 n 0 M"7/0 J 115.2fqyzzwv IN V EN TOR.

Patented Jan. 11, 1949 F Ill-C E TRIGGER SAFETY FOR SHGTGUNS THE LIKE"Tracy llv. Maynor, Beckley, W. Va.

' Applicatibnlune 13', 1945; SerialNb; 599-,13'8

1 Claim. 1?.

l his invention. relates tosafety pins. for shotguns and other firearmsof a similar type, one of the objects being to provide a safety pin ofthe cross-bolt type which will act automatically to hold:the triggeragainst accidental retraction, the? position, and. construction of 1'this cross-bolt saiety, being, such that it can be actuated bythez'sameafinger in contact withthe trigger to: be be pulled so thataslight transverse pressure exerted prior to or during the pull on thetrigger will release said trigger forrretraction.

Another'object is to provide a: locking pinwhich, when released, willautomatically return to its initial position, thereby again locking thetrigger against retraction until such time as the hand of the user shallbe placed in position to pull the trigger whereupon said trigger can beunlocked and actuated without thought or effort.

A further object is to provide a locking pin which normally preventsunintentional actuation of the trigger.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in certain novel details ofconstruction and certain steps in the method hereinafter more fullydescribed and pointed out in the claims, it being understood thatchanges may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventionas claimed.

In the acompanying drawing the preferred form of the invention has beenshown.

In said drawing,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a firearm equipped with thepresent improvements.

Figure 2 is an elevation of a portion of a firearm viewed from theopposite ends.

Figure 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3-3, Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged section through one side portion of the firearmtaken on the line 4-4, Fig. 2.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference I designates aportion of the firearm to which is secured the usual trigger plate 2having a trigger guard 3. The trigger 4 is mounted in the usual mannerand is provided with the conventional lug or blade 5 extendingbackwardly therefrom into a slot 6 within the rearportion of the guard.

Formed within the rear portion of the guard is a transverse bore 1provided with a keyway 8 that extends longitudinally of the bore andslot '6 is at right angles to and opens into this bore.

A cross-bolt or safety pin 9 is slidably mounted in the bore 1 and has akey it within keyway 8 guard to. be engaged; byth'e fingeractuating' thetrigger: If the trigger is to be operated by finger: on the:- righthandoiv the: user. the? rest; H. will; project. fromv the right side of thetrigger guard; Obviously; however, this cross-boltzor' safetypin can. bereversed in the-bo're i so that thefinger'rest M? will be supportedbeyond! the leftside: of the: trigger guard,.thereby' adaptingit foruse;by a: person using theleft. hand when. firing the gun.

A cap l2 houses that end of the cross-bolt or pin 9 remote from thefinger rest H and can be secured in place on the guard 3 in any suitablemanner. For example, and as shown in Fig. 4, the cap l2 can have anintegral wing l3 held to the side of the gun by one or more screws I4 orthe like. The cap contains a coiled spring I 5 which exerts a constantpressure against the bolt or pin 9, thereby holding the cross bolt inone extreme position, with finger rest I! normally spaced from the sideof the guard.

The key Ill is cut away where is crosses the slot 6 to provide a seat I6normally positioned across the inner edge of the lug or blade 5, asshown in Fig. 3, so that retraction of the trigger 4 is thus prevented.The engagement of the trigger blade with one end wall of the cutawaypart (see Fig. 3) provides a stop limiting movement of the cross-boltbeyond the above-mentioned extreme or normal position. However, at oneend of and communicating with the seat 16 there is formed a recess I!which extends into the bolt or pin so that when bolt or pin 9 is shiftedagainst the action of spring l5, this recess H is brought into registerwith the blade or lug 5 so that it then becomes possible to retract thetrigger. Exact registry of the recess with the trigger results when thetrigger engages the other end wall of the cutaway portion, which otherend wall is flush with the recess wall (see Fig. 3).

In using a gun equipped with the present improvements a finger isapplied to the trigger in the usual manner but, in order to reach thetrigger, the finger must be extended across the finger rest I I. Byusing the finger to thrust against rest II, the safety is released andsaid finger can then be used to retract the trigger and fire the gun. Assoon as the finger is removed from the trigger and the rest IIdisengaged from the finger, the bolt or pin 9 will snap back into normalposition so as to bring the seat [6 behind lug or blade 5. This or:safety pin: is heldi 3 results in relocking the trigger againstretraction.

Importance is attached to the fact that the structure described enablesthe user to fire the gun without thought or effort in releasing thesafety, and the further fact that the trigger is automatically locked.without trusting to the memory of the user to relock it.

It is a fact well known to hunters that many shots at game have beenlost through failure to release the safety in time, where the usuallocks are employed. With the present structure, however, the locking andunlocking are practically automatic and quick shots can be made withoutthought of efiecting a release.

What is claimed is:

In a firearm, the combination, with a trigger guard having a transversebore, a keyway extending longitudinally of and communicating with thebore, and a slot at right angles to and opening into the bore andkeyway, and with a trigger movably mounted in the slot, of a cross-boltslidable in the bore, a key on the cross-bolt slidable in the keyway toprevent rotation of the cross-bolt, a spring engaging and yieldablyurging the cross bolt in one direction to one extreme position, a fingerrest on one end of the cross-bolt positioned relative to the trigger toreceive thrust from a users finger approximately simultaneously withdepression of the trigger by said finger, for movement of the cross-boltin the other direction to an opposite extreme position against theaction of the spring, the key having a cutaway portion to provide a seatreceiving and preventing depression of the trigger when the cross-boltis in the first-named position, the trigger when positioned in the seatengaging one end wall of the cutaway portion to provide a stop forpreventing movement of the cross-bolt beyond the firstnamed extremeposition, and said cross-bolt hav-- ing a recess immediately adjacentand communicating with the seat to receive the trigger when thecross-bolt is moved to its second extreme position, to permit depressionof the trigger, one end wall of the recess being flush with the otherend wall of the cutaway portion to provide a stop engageable by thetrigger to prevent movement of the cross-bolt beyond its second extremeposition and to register the recess with the trigger as the trigger isdepressed.

TRACY L. MAYNOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 170,988 Chillingworth Dec. 14,1875 1,732,115 Young Oct. 15, 1929 2,000,858 Maxwell May 7, 1935 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 20,813 Germany Jan. 25, 1883

